Hit Command+Enter To View A Spotlight Result In Its Parent Folder

Mac OS X: Spotlight is a great search tool, but on the surface, it only lets you open files you find in the search results. It turns out a simple shortcut will show that result in the Finder.

If you are looking for a file but don't want to open it directly—say, if you want to rename it, move it, or perform some other action on the file itself—just search for it in Spotlight, highlight its entry in the results, and hit Command+Enter. Spotlight will open up a new Finder window containing the file's parent folder, so you can see the file itself.

You can also hit Option+Enter to open up all your Spotlight results in a new Finder window, which you can already do by hitting "Show All"—though it's always nice to have a keyboard shortcut. Got any of your own lesser-known Spotlight shortcuts? Be sure to share them with us in the comments.